[virtual IDE card reader with PCI express]

Abstract

The present invention discloses a virtual integrated drive electronics (IDE) card reader with a peripheral component interconnect express (PCI Express). The card reader includes a microcontroller connected to a PCI Express connecting interface and a memory card connecting interface separately. The microcontroller includes a memory card interface, a PCI Express interface, and a virtual IDE module. The virtual IDE module includes a IDE host and a IDE device. If the host sends an instruction for storing or reading data to a memory card connected to the card reader, the instruction will be sent to and executed in the virtual IDE module. The data in the memory card can be transmitted at a transmission rate up to the standard of an IDE device, and the host will consider the card reader as an IDE device instead of a PCI Express device only.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] 2. The present invention relates to a virtual integrated drive electronics (IDE) card reader with a peripheral component interconnect express (PCI Express), and more particularly to a virtual IDE card reader that uses the PCI Express as a transmission interface. [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] As the science and technology of computers grows in a fast changing manner, a computer tends to be developed with powerful computational functions and a fast speed, and thus the clock of a central processing unit (CPU) is too fast, and the transmission rate of other peripheral equipments cannot catch up with the processing speed of the CPU at all. Even though the CPU continues enhancing its performance, the transmission rate of peripheral equipments cannot be improved much because the overall performance of a computer depends on the whole system. It is necessary to improve the whole computer architecture before...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is about using the PCI Express bus as a transmission interface between a host and a card reader, and the card reader has a virtual IDE module capable of communicating with the host. This allows the card reader to achieve the best transmission rate when accessing data in a memory card through the card reader, and the card reader also has the features of an IDE interface. The card reader comprises a microcontroller, and the microcontroller is connected separately to a PCI Express built in a host and memory card connecting interface for connecting a memory card, and the microcontroller has a memory card interface, a PCI Express interface, and a virtual IDE module. The technical effect of this invention is that the data transmission rate meets the transmission rate of the PCI Express standard without losing the feature of an IDE interface.

Problems solved by technology

As the science and technology of computers grows in a fast changing manner, a computer tends to be developed with powerful computational functions and a fast speed, and thus the clock of a central processing unit (CPU) is too fast, and the transmission rate of other peripheral equipments cannot catch up with the processing speed of the CPU at all.

Even though the CPU continues enhancing its performance, the transmission rate of peripheral equipments cannot be improved much because the overall performance of a computer depends on the whole system.

The transmission rates of the USB or IDE interface are just 480 MB / s and 160 MB / s respectively, and such transmission rates cannot catch up with the accessing speed of the memory card.

Therefore, the applications of memories are restricted by the USB or IDE interface of the host, and its performance cannot be maximized.

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